FRIENDLINESS

I felt Stackridge debut album was a very promising release and it´s an album I enjoy on occasion. I gave it 3 big stars as I felt the last something was missing before I could justify giving it 4 stars. With this Stackridge second album that something is very much present. It´s a great album and probably the best Stackridge ever made.

The music reminds me of early Genesis with a folk edge and also The Beatles. There are many beautiful acoustic parts and lots of violin and flute. The vocals are the most impressive thing though. They are really beautiful. There are lots of vocal harmonies. The songs are all excellent from the opening instrumental piece Lummy Days to the Symphonic epic like Syracuse the Elephant and to the rocking Story of My Heart. The music is diverse enough to never get trivial, something happens all the time to keep you entertained.

The CD bonus tracks are a good addition to the original LP tracks. There is a short version of Slark from the debut album and both Purple Spaceships Over Yatton and Everyman are very much in line with the rest of the album. Really beautiful melodic songs.

The lyrics has to be mentioned too. They continue in the vein of the lyrics on the debut album which means strange cartoon like stories about animals acting like humans and other strange things. The images created through the lyrics is very strong and helps Stackridge to create their own identity.

The musicians are great. Most of the music is rather subtle and beautiful but they also master the more rocking parts. As mentioned the singing is what impresses me most. Really beautiful.

The sound quality is excellent here on Friendliness. I had som reservations toward the drum sound on Stackridge debut album, but here everything sounds great.

Stackridge have done exactly what I hoped they would with this second album and I think Friendliness deserves 4 stars. Fans of Genesis should try this one out as there are many similarities. Stackridge is not one of the endless clones though as they definitely have their own style.